Industry groups welcome Biden administration's agreement with EU to expand U.S. LNG exports
American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Mike Sommers and Energy Workforce & Technology Council CEO Leslie Beyer said their associations welcome the announcement by President Biden and European Commission President von der Leyen establishing a joint task force to help increase U.S. LNG exports to Europe and reduce their dependency on Russian natural gas.
“We welcome the president’s focus on expanding U.S. LNG exports to our European allies during this crisis, and we applaud the administration’s continued leadership in ensuring a unified international response to maximize pressure on Russia through additional sanctions,” Sommers said.
During recent months, American producers have significantly expanded LNG shipments to allies, establishing Europe as the top US LNG export destination, he said.
“With effective policies on both sides of the Atlantic, we could do even more to support Europe’s long-term energy security and reduce their reliance on Russian energy,” Sommers said.
“We stand ready to work with the administration to follow this announcement with meaningful policy actions to support global energy security, including further addressing the backlog of LNG permits, reforming the permitting process, and advancing more natural gas pipeline infrastructure.”
“We welcome the call for more exports of LNG to Europe and for increased domestic production," Beyer said. "Our industry is ready to help fill the gap as the world continues to shun Russian oil and gas."
U.S. production is on the rise and can continue to ramp up, but the Administration must pullback excessive regulatory hurdles, and support and encourage long-term investment in domestic oil and gas production and infrastructure, Beyer said.
"We were encouraged by FERC’s actions yesterday to approve three pending applications and to hold off on implementing detrimental policies on applications until the policies are finalized. Rapid increases in domestic production won’t happen overnight, but we are confident that the industry can step up and satisfy the energy needs of the U.S. and our allies."
